The 1998 Illawarra Steelers

Illawarra Steelers

The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level Rugby League competition from 1982, when they, along with the Canberra Raiders, were admitted into the then New South Wales Rugby Football...

 season was the club's seventeenth and final season in its history, spanning across the three competitions of the NSWRL, ARL and NRL. A home loss by a field goal to the hands of the Craig Polla-Mounter

Craig Polla-Mounter

Craig Polla-Mounter is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer for the Bulldogs. He primarily played at halfback. Polla-Mounter participated in Canterbury's 1994, 1995 and 1998 Grand Finals, winning in 1995....

 and his Canterbury Bulldogs

Canterbury Bulldogs

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions...

 team, plus results going against them in the final round of the regular season saw the Steelers finish 12th. Andrew Farrar's

Andrew Farrar

Andrew Farrar is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the Canterbury Bulldogs, Western Suburbs Magpies, Wigan Warriors and Illawarra Steelers. Farrar also played for New South Wales in the State of Origin on several occasions and played for Australia in the 1988...

 team of hopefuls were unable to make the finals series and were put under pressure to merge or fold when the league was expected to cut the twenty-team competition down to fourteen for the 1999 season. They did eventually merge with the St. George Dragons

St. George Dragons

The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...

 for the start of the 1999 NRL season.

Draw and Results

Home Crowd Averages

Round	Opposition	Venue	Crowd
Round 1	Melbourne Storm Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	10,695
Round 3	Newcastle Knights Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	9,141
Round 5	St. George Dragons St. George Dragons The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	9,427
Round 7	Parramatta Eels Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	9,119
Round 9	Western Suburbs Magpies Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	7,636
Round 12	South Sydney Rabbitohs South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	8,174
Round 14	Balmain Tigers Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	10,076
Round 16	North Queensland Cowboys North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	6,558
Round 18	Brisbane Broncos Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	12,018
Round 20	North Sydney Bears North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	6,847
Round 22	Sydney City Roosters Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	8,178
Round 24	Bulldogs Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions...	WIN Stadium, Wollongong	13,106

Player Movements

Gains

Player	Previous Club
Craig Wilson	South Queensland Crushers South Queensland Crushers The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as part of the League's expansion plans for professional...

Losses

Player	Joined Club
John Cross	Penrith Panthers Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...
Fili Seru	retired

Squad

(captain)